Use the URL When Creating a Reference Citation for Most Websites
Always include the entire URL in a Reference citation for most websites.* See the relevant citation examples for more information.
*Exception: if you are only giving a broad overview of the website and/or professional organization and not citing or summarizing a specific page, you cite it in-text with an end-of-sentence parenthetical only; it should not appear on the References page.
Do not include the URL for articles you found through a Library database that houses articles from many different places (e.g., ProQuest, Ebscohost, Factiva). If the URL has “ezproxy,” “proquest,” and/or “ebscohost” in it, do not include it. You also don’t need to name the database in this situation.
Do Not Use the URL when Citing from Databases that Contain Content Only Available within that Database
URLs are not included for this type of source, but you will include the name of the database for content that can only be found in that database, such as reports from Marketline or IBISWorld (see Company Reports and Industry Reports in Citation Examples for details).